Canada’s leading mayors have rejected a plan by Canada Post to phase out home delivery services, criticizing the plan for being hatched in secret.

Mayors meeting in Ottawa Wednesday to lobby the federal government for infrastructure and housing funds passed a resolution rejecting the plan until the crown corporation consults with cities on the change.

There was a “lack of consultation with cities across Canada,” Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson said, adding that any policy changes would have to be “evidence based.”

Montreal mayor Denis Coderre said cities were “very concerned” with the proposed changes.

The mayors are not the only ones who have taken issue with how Canada’s Post changes were ushered in. Federal opposition MPs have cried foul over the timing of the announcement in December — less than 24 hours after Parliament rose for the Christmas break.

The five-point plan aimed at cutting $900,000 includes a phase-out of home delivery in urban areas, an increase in the price of stamps, and the elimination of up to as many as 8,000 jobs.

Roads, bridges and building

Wednesday, mayors also pressed for the feds to release more money for roads and bridges, as well as public housing projects. The mayors will independently submit their requests to tap into a newly announced $14 billion infrastructure fund by March 31.

Cities want the federal government to dedicated ‘a lion’s share’ of the Building Canada Fund to cities for local projects, Robertson told reporters halfway through Wednesday’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus meeting at Ottawa’s city hall.

He said that without giving cities the bulk of the money from the fund and making additional investments for roads and brides, Canada will be uncompetitive in a global marketplace.

Robertson also said the 2014 federal budget was a ‘big disappointment’ on housing, an area that received no new investments.

The meeting’s mayors, which include mayors from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and 16 other municipalities are asking the federal government to extend their $1.7-billion housing investment into the future.